Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Updates for Lowe’s Companies (LOW)

A number of research firms have changed their ratings and price targets for Lowe’s Companies (NYSE: LOW):

10/3/2017 – Lowe’s Companies is now covered by analysts at Gordon Haskett. They set an “accumulate” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock.

9/29/2017 – Lowe’s Companies had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Piper Jaffray Companies. They now have a $80.00 price target on the stock.

9/28/2017 – Lowe’s Companies had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Jefferies Group LLC. They now have a $75.00 price target on the stock.

9/25/2017 – Lowe’s Companies had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada. They now have a $81.00 price target on the stock.

9/21/2017 – Lowe’s Companies was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating. According to Zacks, “Lowe’s shares have slid and underperformed the industry in the past six months. In fact, the stock came under pressure after it posted lower-than-expected second-quarter fiscal 2017 results. This was the second quarter in row wherein both the top and bottom lines fell short of the estimate. Nevertheless, both sales and earnings grew year over year, albeit at a rate lower than the preceding quarter. However, comps showed considerable improvement. We believe Lowe’s buyout of Maintenance Supply Headquarters will help strengthen relationship with pro customers. Further, improving job scenario, housing market recovery, merchandising initiatives and post hurricane construction activities along with efforts to enhance omni-channel capabilities bode well. Management expects sales to increase 5% with comps growth of 3.5% during fiscal 2017 but took a conservative stance when it comes to earnings per share and operating margin guidance.”

9/11/2017 – Lowe’s Companies was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating. According to Zacks, “Lowe’s shares have slid and underperformed the industry in the past six months. In fact, the stock came under pressure after it posted weaker-than-expected second-quarter fiscal 2017 results. This was the second quarter in row wherein both the top and bottom lines fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Nevertheless, both sales and earnings grew year over year, albeit at a rate lower than the preceding quarter. However, comps showed considerable improvement. Further, improving job scenario, recovery in the housing market and merchandising initiatives along with efforts to enhance omni-channel capabilities bode well. Management continues to expect sales to increase 5% with comps growth of 3.5% during fiscal 2017. However, lower-than-expected second-quarter results and investment plans compelled Lowe’s to trim fiscal 2017 earnings view. Lowe’s investment in customer-facing hours in stores and promotions will hurt margins.”

9/5/2017 – Lowe’s Companies is now covered by analysts at Bank of America Corporation. They set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock.

8/28/2017 – Lowe’s Companies was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating. According to Zacks, “Lowe’s shares have slid and underperformed the industry in the past three months. In fact, the stock came under pressure after it posted weaker-than-expected second-quarter fiscal 2017 results. This was the second quarter in row wherein both the top and bottom lines fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Nevertheless, both sales and earnings grew year over year, albeit at a rate lower than the preceding quarter. However, comps showed considerable improvement. Further, improving job scenario, recovery in the housing market and merchandising initiatives along with efforts to enhance omni-channel capabilities bode well. Management continues to expect sales to increase 5% with comps growth of 3.5% during fiscal 2017. However, lower-than-expected second-quarter results and investment plans compelled Lowe’s to trim fiscal 2017 earnings view. Lowe’s investment in customer-facing hours in stores and promotions will hurt margins.”

8/24/2017 – Lowe’s Companies had its price target lowered by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $85.00 to $81.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.

8/24/2017 – Lowe’s Companies was given a new $87.00 price target on by analysts at Robert W. Baird. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.

8/24/2017 – Lowe’s Companies was given a new $83.00 price target on by analysts at Credit Suisse Group. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.

8/24/2017 – Lowe’s Companies had its price target lowered by analysts at Deutsche Bank AG from $92.00 to $85.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.

8/24/2017 – Lowe’s Companies had its price target lowered by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $88.00 to $81.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.

8/24/2017 – Lowe’s Companies had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Piper Jaffray Companies. They now have a $80.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $83.00.

8/24/2017 – Lowe’s Companies had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Jefferies Group LLC. They now have a $75.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $89.00.

8/24/2017 – Lowe’s Companies had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by analysts at J P Morgan Chase & Co. They now have a $83.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $89.00.

8/23/2017 – Lowe’s Companies was given a new $100.00 price target on by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc.. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.

8/23/2017 – Lowe’s Companies was downgraded by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating. They now have a $82.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $89.00.

8/21/2017 – Lowe’s Companies had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Credit Suisse Group. They now have a $94.00 price target on the stock. They noted that the move was a valuation call. They noted that the move was a valuation call.

8/18/2017 – Lowe’s Companies had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at BTIG Research. They now have a $95.00 price target on the stock.

8/14/2017 – Lowe’s Companies had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Longbow Research. They now have a $95.00 price target on the stock.

8/11/2017 – Lowe’s Companies was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating. They now have a $88.00 price target on the stock. According to Zacks, “Although, Lowe’s shares have underperformed the industry in the past three months owing to lower-than-expected results in first-quarter fiscal 2017, its efforts towards increasing pro-customers base might help drive the stock going forward. Lowe’s recently completed the buyout of Maintenance Supply Headquarters, which will help strengthen relationship with pro customers. Further, we believe improving job scenario, gradual recovery in the housing market and merchandising initiatives along with efforts to provide better omni-channel customer experience bode well. Management expects sales to increase approximately 5% with comps growth of about 3.5% during fiscal 2017. However, Lowe’s fiscal 2017 earnings projections of approximately $4.30 per share, down from the previous estimate of $4.64 is a cause of worry for investors. Of late estimates have been stable ahead of the second-quarter earnings release.”

8/8/2017 – Lowe’s Companies was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating. According to Zacks, “Lowe’s shares have underperformed the industry in the past three months owing to lower-than-expected results in first-quarter fiscal 2017. However, the company’s efforts towards increasing pro-customers base might help drive the company stock going forward. Lowe’s recently completed the buyout of Maintenance Supply Headquarters, which will help strengthen relationship with pro customers. Further, we believe improving job scenario, gradual recovery in the housing market and merchandising initiatives along with efforts to provide better omni-channel customer experience bode well. Management expects sales to increase approximately 5% with comps growth of about 3.5% during fiscal 2017. However, Lowe’s fiscal 2017 earnings projections of approximately $4.30 per share, down from the previous estimate of $4.64 is a cause of worry for investors. Of late estimates have been stable ahead of the second-quarter earnings release.”

Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE LOW) traded up 0.69% during trading on Tuesday, hitting $81.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,967,723 shares. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $76.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.42. The stock has a market cap of $67.75 billion, a PE ratio of 23.10 and a beta of 1.07. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $64.87 and a one year high of $86.25. Lowe’s Companies also saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders bought 6,466 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 538% compared to the average volume of 1,014 put options.

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Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 23rd. The home improvement retailer reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $19.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.58 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 4.51% and a return on equity of 62.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post $4.50 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 24th. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.20%.

In other news, insider Paul D. Ramsay sold 2,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.02, for a total transaction of $163,685.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $655,368. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew V. Hollifield sold 7,853 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.30, for a total transaction of $614,889.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,407,725. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Lowe’s Companies, Inc (Lowe’s) is a home improvement company. The Company operates approximately 2,370 home improvement and hardware stores. The Company offers a range of products for maintenance, repair, remodeling and decorating. The Company offers home improvement products in categories, including Lumber and Building Materials; Tools and Hardware; Appliances; Fashion Fixtures; Rough Plumbing and Electrical; Lawn and Garden; Seasonal and Outdoor Living; Paint; Flooring; Millwork, and Kitchens.